


Alone Together

by bug_boyfriend



Category: Evolve (Video Game)
Genre: Bugs & Insects, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 04:24:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7876225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bug_boyfriend/pseuds/bug_boyfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were just two strangers who teamed up to find a way out of planet Shear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alone Together

The night-beasts’ howls finally faded and a moment of quiet lazily stretched over the crinkled jungle of Shear. Soon enough the harpies would make themselves heard, corvid eyes always on the lookout and ready to claim whatever carcasses the night creatures had left behind, if the trapjaws didn’t get to them first. As if on cue, an avian aria erupted from a nearby tree marking the start of a new day, and that’s how he knew it was early morning.

That and because his heart was pounding right out of his chest, as it always did whenever he woke up. That’s how Slim always woke up, as if someone had just fired a gun and all he was left with was a ghostly ring in his ears. He lay flat on his back, breathing hard, claw-fingers hovering over his holster and finding the presence of his pistol somewhat comforting.

Thankful that he didn’t wake up screaming, or flailing his limbs everywhere anymore, he sat up, one hand still on his holster and the other reaching out to pull the rag he used as a blanket to the side. The rag, too small for his body, and half-torn with holes, was shoved unceremoniously inside his bag. He reached inside it, taking a while to find his electric cigarette within the clutter of the few possessions he owned.

Bag on shoulder and cigarette dangling between his pale lips, he walked over to the wide entrance of the cavern where he had spent the night in. The cave, much like the jungle surrounding it, was primordial and intact from human presence. Ivy-like vines clung to the walls and wet lichen grew freely on the clumpy, mossy floor. The walls stood as hoary fortresses with spires of rock proudly rising from the ground. The cavern had wide fissures on the ceiling that allowed the light to pour in through each crack, the bright sun causing Slim’s million-faceted eyes to squint a little.

He was often forced to seek refuge in caves due to the uncertain climate and lack of resources to build a shelter. His traveling companion, an experienced hunter he had just recently met, was against the idea of staying the night in a cave but complied since they weren’t planning to settle in anyway. Two tiring weeks of travel awaited them and Slim didn’t want to waste time camping. Used to sleep in dire conditions, any burrow or breach in the sprawling trees were good enough beds for him - they weren’t comfortable but he didn’t sleep much these days, and his body, too tired to feel anything anymore, grew used to such beds.

Slim took a long drag, the tip of the electric-cigarette flicking blue. They had agreed to sleep in shifts: he’d take the first one, staying nearby while his partner rested for a few hours. Nothing really happened during his own shifts and he often wondered if they were necessary at all - he almost regretted suggesting them in the first place. Then, in the middle of the night his partner would walk past him, rifle in hand and his pet batray following closely behind - there’d be a silent nod between them and Slim would return to the caves for a quick nap. He’d doze off sometimes but the Batray’s screeches would wake him up, and, in a strange way, he’d find solace hearing its cry, knowing his companion wasn’t too far away. In the morning his partner would return and both of them would continue their course.

But today it had finally happened: the batray had gone silent all night as he had feared, which could only mean that his partner was gone. Driven away by Slim’s appearance and status, or back to the nearest station to come back with a team of bounty hunters to collect the massive reward on his head - either way Slim had to move on, and quickly.

The Basilisk soldier tried to conceal his disappointment: two days weren’t nearly enough for them to get to know each other, and the fact that his companion had the same personality of a rock didn’t exactly help, but, traveling with someone who had no idea what Basilisks were and particularly with no interest in their war, was a pleasant change from what he was used to. Nevertheless, ten million keys were far too tempting it seemed, even for a hermit.

Slim took a long drag before jumping down the low, stone ledge and made his way into the valley with his biomechanical leech-gun in hand. A motionless mist hung over the wasteland, a warning that Fall was fading. Crashing on sheer and subsequently chasing a 4 meter long monster in a deadly jungle left him unprepared for the cold weather. Slim was, by no means, dressed properly for the current climate, let alone for the monsoon season. Sure, there were trade markets on the many outposts across the land, but he wouldn’t dare step foot into those with fear of being captured. Most clothes didn’t fit his body anyway, his wings getting in the way for shirts and his claw-toes too wide for any shoes. The fact that he wore pants at all seemed to be the weirdest for most people.

He was still a man despite his appearance saying otherwise. He had large, compound eyes and ridges above it that would raise or lower like eyebrows would. The nose, with no nostrils and flat, led to a set of full lips. Slim’s muscle definition was clear despite the ridges across his abdomen, and his skin was smooth in shades of blue and white. His alien-like body was bare of any hair, and a set of wings with a broken propulsor attached to his back. Slim could only fly for a brief period of time (or whenever the propulsor decided to work), his wings alone not fit to carry him for too long despite him being light-weighted.

The misty curtain grew thicker and thicker until Slim couldn’t see any more of the dense jungle’s foliage except for a few trees, slowly fading and yellowing, then crumbling into brown naked branches, its twigs stripped and its roots dry and twisted painfully as a warning that this place was to be avoided. S-CORP made quite the profit by getting rid of their power-plant’s toxic waste through the large metal pipes that travelled all the way up from the northern mountains and ended up here, dumping their wastes and corrupting this part of the jungle beyond repair. Aside from mushrooms and fungi, which seemed to grow up everywhere like weeds, there were no signs of life present besides himself and the constant toxic-yellow fumes tossed in the air from the bogs.

The stifling atmosphere provided Slim the perfect opportunity to walk unnoticed, and, aside from a mint-scented trail of smoke pouring out of his lips, there were no trails to follow and Slim was confident he could not be tracked in such a place, not even by the experienced hunter and his pet batray. Slim felt very smart for guessing that his partner’s strange bird could not spot him in the fog. Also the fact that the Hunter had explicitly told Slim his pet was not apt to fly in the swamp area due to the toxic fumes from the bogs might have helped.

The Basilisk soldier arrived at a wide glade, black earth where nothing dared grow felt warm underneath his bare feet. He came to a sudden halt as his multi-faceted eyes captured a half second gleam flash through the mist. Startled, Slim glanced around to find himself surrounded by a couple more glowing tails.

Blitzleopards, three of them, surrounding him. They were slender, swift predators, if not one of the fastest creatures you could find in this planet. And the most dangerous too, when in packs. Someone had told Slim these creatures would pounce and pin their preys so that the whole pack could attack all at once; a small slip was all it took for him to be pounced on and shredded to pieces.

An arched head, with a large ruff of scaled skin around its frilled-neck, poked through the mist, three eyes on each side of its great head staring back at Slim. The leonine creature’s eyes gleamed with cunning, and it snarled at him bared teeth. Slim took notice of the other two creatures encircling him as well, their thick scales on their frilled necks standing sharply on end. The closest one stood low to the floor giving the impression it was about to pounce, its tail whisked and flashing Slim its massive tusks.

“Alright.” Slim said, his distinctive flanging voice echoing through the valley as he cocked his leech-gun at the nearest of the creatures “Let’s see who has who for dinner.”

Just as he said it, the creatures froze in their place in silence looking in Slim’s direction before turning around and springing away back into the mist.

“Y-yeah that’s right” Slim shouted, confused but too proud to try to understand what had just happened. “Run away before-”.

He felt a huff of hot breath on his back, making every muscle of his body tense up. Slim turned around slowly, and his heart stopped for a moment. There it was, the monster that had destroyed three whole colonies of the Far East stations: It was at least four meters tall and it stood on its back legs. It was bipedal unlike most saurian creatures and its thick scales were covered in cauldron-black barbs along his back and tail. With simian eyes, black and wild, it simmered spite at the Basilisk Soldier, like it was capable of thought and was studying him, measuring him, trying to understand what Slim was and, more importantly, if he was edible.

The basilisk soldier’s eyes noticed the creature’s muscular frame inexplicably glowing red, and, as it opened its large pair of mandibles, Slim only had time to duck before the monster breathed a jet of flame in his direction. Before he could even think of using his wings to escape, the creature’s massive tail thwacked his side and he crashed on the ground. Slim cursed something in a language he did not remember knowing as he watched his leech-gun spin on the ground, out of reach.

Despite the pain and being barely able to move, Slim had already retrieved his revolver from his holster, and even though he was firing directly at its massive skull the bullets seemed to be too weak to penetrate the scaled armor.

The monster roared at him, and Slim found all the racing of his mind be replaced by a strange calm. Relief took over as he watched the creature grab a huge boulder off the ground for the final strike and all he could do was watch as the scene unfolded in front of him, almost spellbound, knowing this was the day he’d finally die. It only pained him how much he had gone through for it to end like this.

In his first mission he had witnessed most of his childhood friends be wiped out in just a few seconds, and there were still more years of war after that. He had even fought against Chemtroopers that burned everything in their path, including one of his squads, and Lazarus men that could not be killed, but would kill so many of his own in return. Slim had been captured, beaten, starved and forced to see his remaining friends be executed in front of him.

Escaping the war, the execution camps and the bounty-hunters to end up like this felt almost ironic. All those other times he had wished for death only for it to be delayed… for this?

A high-pitched screech brought him out of his thoughts as a blurred dash pierced the sky until it slammed into the beast’s skull. The monster’s anguished roar echoed through the valley as it tried to swat the batray away, tossing the rock aside in the process. Slim watched the scene unfold in front of him, spellbound and surprised in equal measure - it was his companion’s pet batray that had charged and was now clutching to the monster’s eyes with it’s sharp claws. Before he could wonder where the batray’s owner was, there was a distinctive charging sound followed by a bright beam that hit the monster, hard. It pierced the monster’s armored skin easily, leaving a visible crack on the scales that looked so indestructible just a few moments ago. The monster let out an bestial roar before it leapt and charged away into the mist.

Up in the sky Gobi glided in the air, slowly circling above Slim who was still lying on the floor, dumbfounded by all of this. The batray’s owner came into vision, two green lights peering out of the mist before Gobi swooped down to rest on his raised arm.

“‘Told you coming to the swamps was a bad idea.”

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to BJuice for spell checking it for me!


End file.
